From last year
https://greenbriertipoff.com/more/venue/

All the basketball action will take place inside the spectacular Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier, providing a unique and intimate setting for a one-of-a-kind college basketball experience fans won’t want to miss. Colonial Hall is conveniently located at the center of the property allowing fans to transition from enjoying the resort’s amenities to courtside excitement without missing a beat. In addition to basketball events, Colonial Hall has played host to elegant dinners, concerts featuring the likes of Lionel Richie and Lady A, themed dance parties, and grand conventions, among others.
 

Only two games? Seems a waste to bring in eight teams and only have each play twice when a three round tournament would not be that much of an add-on for organizers (though it ensures no conference rivals play each other in Texas, too). 
And no one make puns about USF playing in Frisco because, as anyone from there will tell you, it is only acceptable to shorten it to "San Fran".

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (6/05/2026 1:46 pm)

The D1 Docket: Atlantic 10 Dockets

Some passing thoughts on the field. Hope GW gets to play at least one of the Pac-12 teams (Colorado State/Utah State) and one of Nevada/Tulsa. GW currently has the third highest Torvik rank (#83) in the field.

Utah State
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #60
Key Returners: Mason Falslev, Karson Templin
Key Transfers: Connor Turnbull (Evansville), AJ Bates (Louisiana Tech), Solomon Callaghan (Wright State), Will Hornsett (Northern Iowa), Collin Mulholland (Chattanooga)
Thoughts: Utah State is basically VCU of the west. Their last four coaches (Craig Smith, Ryan Odom, Danny Sprinkle, Jerrod Calhoun) spent three or fewer seasons in Logan before landing bigger jobs. The new man in charge, Ben Jacobson, was somewhat of a surprise hire given he had spent the last 20 years at Northern Iowa. The Panthers always had a solid floor under Jacobson, never finishing worse than 129th on KenPom. Expect the Aggies to play slow, be solid defensively, emphasize defensive rebounding but ignore offensive rebounding, and not foul much. This year's team (now in the Pac 12) should remain solid despite the coaching change as the Aggies bring back two key pieces, including Mountain West Player of the Year Mason Falslev. They also bring in four transfers from lower levels that averaged double figures.

Colorado State
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #80
Key Returners: Kyle Jorgensen, Carey Booth, Josh Pascarelli, Jase Butler, Rashaan Mbemba
Key Transfers: Justin Menard (Marist), Amondo Miller Jr. (D2 Lubbock Christian)
Thoughts: Unlike other teams in the field, CSU will be bringing back many players from last year (five of their top seven scorers). The Rams experienced the same problems GW did last year - very skilled offensively with some careless turnovers, but not good enough on defense. After a good shooting year from Josh Pascarelli, second year coach Ali Farokhmanesh poached from Marist again, bringing in Justin Menard. CSU should remain a factor in their first year in the Pac 12, but internal development in the offseason is a must to be a contender. It was clear that the interior defense was a problem, and I'm not sure they've done enough to address that. The additions with true size are all freshmen.

Nevada
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #84
Key Returners: Elijah Price, Vaughn Weems
Key Transfers: Keyon Kensie Jr. (Portland State), Cedric Lath (Houston), Styles Phipps (Pepperdine), Peter Bandelj (Cal Poly), Simon Majok (Memphis)
Thoughts: Like Northern Iowa under Jacobson, Nevada has had a solid floor under Steve Alford, never finishing worse than 132nd on KenPom. The Wolf Pack play on the slower side, move the ball well, and focus on getting to the FT line. They can foul a bit defensively as well, and are fine with having opponents let it fly from distance. Defensive rebounding is always a strength under Alford. Unlike CSU/USU, Nevada is staying put in the Mountain West and should remain one of the better teams there. Second team all-Mountain West player Elijah Price returns and three double figure scorers come in from lower ranks.

Tulsa
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #91
Key Returners: Jaylen Lawal, Myles Rigsby
Key Transfers: Mike Williams (Seton Hall), Kobi Williams (Missouri State), Brent Moss (UTSA), Chris Loofe (Middle Tennessee), Jeremiah Johnson (Campbell), Macon Emory (Delaware), Aleksa Dimitrijevic (Creighton)
Thoughts: The Golden Hurricane had a breakthrough season in year 4 under Eric Konkol, improving over 200 spots in KenPom from the previous year. Konkol previously spent time on staff at George Mason when CC was there, so that would make this a fun matchup given the familiarity. Tulsa's key returners were more supporting cast members than leaders, but there's still upside, especially from Lawal. Three double figure scorers come in from lower levels, and there's a solid mix of down transfers as well. Konkol teams like taking threes, so Tulsa's key will be maintaining the strong shooting from last year - something that was nonexistent in his first three years. They will also get some production from the FT line. Defensively, Tulsa usually lacks rim protection and isn't very disruptive. They were kind of like GW last year in being an offense-first team.

Florida Atlantic
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #128
Key Returners: Kanaan Carlyle
Key Transfers: Mason Porter-Brown (LIU), Braeden Speed (Loyola MD), Jelani Hamilton (Georgia State), Josh Harris (Indiana), Kieran Mullen (Pittsburgh), Fawaz Ifaola (Colorado)
Thoughts: Dusty May has forever changed the perception of FAU hoops. The new head honcho, John Jakus, has been fairly solid himself since taking over, but I question whether the Owls have the same ceiling moving forward. FAU likes playing uptempo and moves the ball well, but they are mediocre at forcing turnovers. The defensive strategy is sound - they run teams off the line and generally have a good interior defense but it feels like they should be better - especially around the perimeter. Braeden Speed and Jelani Hamilton led their previous teams in scoring, so there is offensive upside. It feels again though that all the defensive additions have come up front and not along the perimeter.

Loyola Chicago
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #147
Key Returners: Nic Anderson
Key Transfers: Donald Hand Jr. (Boston College), Ryan Agarwal (Stanford), Eddie Ricks III (James Madison), Elias Rapieque (Kansas State), Dayan Nessah (Cleveland State), Jason Schofield (Marist), Malick Diallo (TCU), Chris Jeffrey (Villanova)
Thoughts: I would be stunned if GW gets Loyola in the tournament. Valentine is probably on the hot seat this year after last year's debacle, and probably did the right thing turning over the entire roster. The transfers coming in seem pretty good (including five down transfers), but the question will be how they all work together, much like GW. Valentine has been boom-or-bust since Loyola joined the A10. Donald Hand Jr. is somewhat volume-dependent, but was fairly good two seasons ago. Ryan Agarwal can provide some shooting. We know what Dayan can do when healthy. Jeffrey has a lot of upside as well.

San Francisco
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #196
Key Returners: Pretty much no one
Key Transfers: Abdul Bashir (Auburn), Ben Oosterbaan (St. Thomas), Ismaila Diagne (Gonzaga)
Thoughts: The Dons will be a very young team next year with seven freshmen coming in. The transfers aren't super proven either. Abdul Bashir seems like the best of them who scored 27 ppg at the JUCO level two years ago. Diagne does have some upside as well. Chris Gerlufsen is a good coach who emphasizes modern analytics/the three ball, but it seems like the NIL situation isn't great at San Fran and you have to wonder what metrics will look like for the WCC in a post-Gonzaga world and a St. Mary's team that isn't being led by Randy Bennett.
 

dmvpiranha wrote:

Some passing thoughts on the field. Hope GW gets to play at least one of the Pac-12 teams (Colorado State/Utah State) and one of Nevada/Tulsa. GW currently has the third highest Torvik rank (#83) in the field.

Utah State
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #60
Key Returners: Mason Falslev, Karson Templin
Key Transfers: Connor Turnbull (Evansville), AJ Bates (Louisiana Tech), Solomon Callaghan (Wright State), Will Hornsett (Northern Iowa), Collin Mulholland (Chattanooga)
Thoughts: Utah State is basically VCU of the west. Their last four coaches (Craig Smith, Ryan Odom, Danny Sprinkle, Jerrod Calhoun) spent three or fewer seasons in Logan before landing bigger jobs. The new man in charge, Ben Jacobson, was somewhat of a surprise hire given he had spent the last 20 years at Northern Iowa. The Panthers always had a solid floor under Jacobson, never finishing worse than 129th on KenPom. Expect the Aggies to play slow, be solid defensively, emphasize defensive rebounding but ignore offensive rebounding, and not foul much. This year's team (now in the Pac 12) should remain solid despite the coaching change as the Aggies bring back two key pieces, including Mountain West Player of the Year Mason Falslev. They also bring in four transfers from lower levels that averaged double figures.

Colorado State
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #80
Key Returners: Kyle Jorgensen, Carey Booth, Josh Pascarelli, Jase Butler, Rashaan Mbemba
Key Transfers: Justin Menard (Marist), Amondo Miller Jr. (D2 Lubbock Christian)
Thoughts: Unlike other teams in the field, CSU will be bringing back many players from last year (five of their top seven scorers). The Rams experienced the same problems GW did last year - very skilled offensively with some careless turnovers, but not good enough on defense. After a good shooting year from Josh Pascarelli, second year coach Ali Farokhmanesh poached from Marist again, bringing in Justin Menard. CSU should remain a factor in their first year in the Pac 12, but internal development in the offseason is a must to be a contender. It was clear that the interior defense was a problem, and I'm not sure they've done enough to address that. The additions with true size are all freshmen.

Nevada
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #84
Key Returners: Elijah Price, Vaughn Weems
Key Transfers: Keyon Kensie Jr. (Portland State), Cedric Lath (Houston), Styles Phipps (Pepperdine), Peter Bandelj (Cal Poly), Simon Majok (Memphis)
Thoughts: Like Northern Iowa under Jacobson, Nevada has had a solid floor under Steve Alford, never finishing worse than 132nd on KenPom. The Wolf Pack play on the slower side, move the ball well, and focus on getting to the FT line. They can foul a bit defensively as well, and are fine with having opponents let it fly from distance. Defensive rebounding is always a strength under Alford. Unlike CSU/USU, Nevada is staying put in the Mountain West and should remain one of the better teams there. Second team all-Mountain West player Elijah Price returns and three double figure scorers come in from lower ranks.

Tulsa
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #91
Key Returners: Jaylen Lawal, Myles Rigsby
Key Transfers: Mike Williams (Seton Hall), Kobi Williams (Missouri State), Brent Moss (UTSA), Chris Loofe (Middle Tennessee), Jeremiah Johnson (Campbell), Macon Emory (Delaware), Aleksa Dimitrijevic (Creighton)
Thoughts: The Golden Hurricane had a breakthrough season in year 4 under Eric Konkol, improving over 200 spots in KenPom from the previous year. Konkol previously spent time on staff at George Mason when CC was there, so that would make this a fun matchup given the familiarity. Tulsa's key returners were more supporting cast members than leaders, but there's still upside, especially from Lawal. Three double figure scorers come in from lower levels, and there's a solid mix of down transfers as well. Konkol teams like taking threes, so Tulsa's key will be maintaining the strong shooting from last year - something that was nonexistent in his first three years. They will also get some production from the FT line. Defensively, Tulsa usually lacks rim protection and isn't very disruptive. They were kind of like GW last year in being an offense-first team.

Florida Atlantic
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #128
Key Returners: Kanaan Carlyle
Key Transfers: Mason Porter-Brown (LIU), Braeden Speed (Loyola MD), Jelani Hamilton (Georgia State), Josh Harris (Indiana), Kieran Mullen (Pittsburgh), Fawaz Ifaola (Colorado)
Thoughts: Dusty May has forever changed the perception of FAU hoops. The new head honcho, John Jakus, has been fairly solid himself since taking over, but I question whether the Owls have the same ceiling moving forward. FAU likes playing uptempo and moves the ball well, but they are mediocre at forcing turnovers. The defensive strategy is sound - they run teams off the line and generally have a good interior defense but it feels like they should be better - especially around the perimeter. Braeden Speed and Jelani Hamilton led their previous teams in scoring, so there is offensive upside. It feels again though that all the defensive additions have come up front and not along the perimeter.

Loyola Chicago
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #147
Key Returners: Nic Anderson
Key Transfers: Donald Hand Jr. (Boston College), Ryan Agarwal (Stanford), Eddie Ricks III (James Madison), Elias Rapieque (Kansas State), Dayan Nessah (Cleveland State), Jason Schofield (Marist), Malick Diallo (TCU), Chris Jeffrey (Villanova)
Thoughts: I would be stunned if GW gets Loyola in the tournament. Valentine is probably on the hot seat this year after last year's debacle, and probably did the right thing turning over the entire roster. The transfers coming in seem pretty good (including five down transfers), but the question will be how they all work together, much like GW. Valentine has been boom-or-bust since Loyola joined the A10. Donald Hand Jr. is somewhat volume-dependent, but was fairly good two seasons ago. Ryan Agarwal can provide some shooting. We know what Dayan can do when healthy. Jeffrey has a lot of upside as well.

San Francisco
Preseason Bart Torvik Rank: #196
Key Returners: Pretty much no one
Key Transfers: Abdul Bashir (Auburn), Ben Oosterbaan (St. Thomas), Ismaila Diagne (Gonzaga)
Thoughts: The Dons will be a very young team next year with seven freshmen coming in. The transfers aren't super proven either. Abdul Bashir seems like the best of them who scored 27 ppg at the JUCO level two years ago. Diagne does have some upside as well. Chris Gerlufsen is a good coach who emphasizes modern analytics/the three ball, but it seems like the NIL situation isn't great at San Fran and you have to wonder what metrics will look like for the WCC in a post-Gonzaga world and a St. Mary's team that isn't being led by Randy Bennett.
 

Great mini-previews. So hard to know how teams will click, but there’s definitely a couple of teams here who would be very tough matchups if they are as expected.

Of course, we have no idea what we will be either with all this talent, but no clue how it fits or what our strengths and weaknesses will turn out to be.

My sources tell me the non conference schedule currently looks something like this ...

Frisco - 3 games (one won't be Loyola)
Greenbriar (around Thanksgiving) - 2 games (might be Liberty and UAB)
Boston College (A) (they return next year)
UMBC (H)
American (H)
Army (H)
Navy (H)
Longwood (A)
William & Mary (A)
______________ (H)

Not 100% locked but close. Still could change on a couple.

Time for the yearly complaint of the schedule lol. Agree with the thinking that the Longwood away game seems unnecessary given GW is already going to Boston College and W&M. That's up there with Jamion's home-and-home with Radford as making little sense from a few years ago. WBB lost there last year, but at least their women's team seemed decent. The men's team finished 270th on KenPom last year. Not sure what the appeal is.

I think in one of CC's first years we played like half the MEAC teams, and then a couple years ago we faced nearly half of the Patriot league. Too much redundancy. Does Army really need to be on the schedule for the third year in a row when GW is also facing American and Navy? I get that scheduling is difficult but three teams from the same conference (and one that isn't ranked fairly high) seems like overkill.

I wonder why GW is not playing Howard the last few years. That would be more fun to watch than like half the slate (even if not analytically the best game to play). Good coach in Blakeney and facing a team that's in the NCAA tournament basically every year. I still like the idea of doing a home-and-home with James Madison and marketing it as the president series or something. GW is analytically good enough nowadays to have a better home/away slate than this. Maybe I'm imagining it, but it feels like schools at our level are scheduling a lot better this year. The neutral site tournaments are carrying the schedule. I don't hate the BC game but if that's the designated high-major game this year it's a big step down from the previous years.
 

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

GW played James Madison a few years back.    ESPN marketed it as #1 vs. #4.   

Those games were played on the Presidents´ Day holiday (get it?). Our guy was President first!

Not going to whine too much about the schedule (especially if Texas is really three and not two games). Agree it is a tad "Patriot-heavy", but all three of those teams should bring ticket-buying fans to the game, and economics are a factor in this day and age. Since we really do not know what we have with our own team (on paper, an upgraded squad but the proof is in the pudding) I am not going to complain that it is either  too easy or too hard, yet.
Sadly, That School Down the Street is not listed (as of now), I was hoping the rousing success of the "exhibition" grudge match would have gotten those chickenshits off their high horse and made a "real" game a regular thing. Sigh. 

GW gets San Fran and Utah State in Dallas

https://x.com/roccomiller8/status/2068058650237902903

That’s great!  Even as an exhibition.